June 15, 2020

Expert Judging Panel Will Determine Winners June 25 with Virtual Audience

Competition Focuses on Hearing Loss Innovative Solutions for 1 in 3 Older Americans

[Haifa, Israel], June 15, 2020 – Alango – Wear & Hear has been chosen as one of six finalists in the What’s Next Innovation Challenge sponsored by AARP Innovation Labs to be held June 25 during the 17th annual What’s Next Longevity Venture Summit virtual event. Finalists were chosen from a large field of applicants who offer the most disruptive solutions to drive adoption and usage of hearing aids for the millions over age 50 who have hearing impairment in the U.S.

“Our finalists in this competition are the top entrepreneurs helping to solve the challenges of hearing loss that impacts one in three Americans between ages 65-74,” said Mary Furlong, serial successful entrepreneur, author and producer of the What’s Next Longevity Summits. “The entrepreneurial talent from this competition not only gets the attention from event attendees who can fund or distribute their innovation and help scale their business, but also gets the chance to go on to national awareness thanks to our sponsor, AARP Innovation Labs. We’re thrilled Alango – Wear & Hear, a company with almost 20 years of experience in sound technology, was one of the finalists chosen.”

Each finalist will make their pitch to the expert judging panel consisting of longevity experts and investors: Dave Blanchard – Hamilton CapTel, Abby Levy – Primetime Partners and Jeannee Parker Martin – LeadingAge California. The judges will vote collectively to determine the winner who will earn a spot at the AARP Innovation Labs Grand Pitch Finale in Washington, D.C. later this year. Past finalists from the What’s Next Innovation Challenge, including Embodied Labs, have gone on to win the national Grand Pitch Finale.

“It is well known that untreated hearing loss is a huge health problem. As documented in the PCAST Report entitled ‘Aging America and Hearing Loss’ (Oct 2015), the traditional hearing aids industry has failed to provide a solution, so we decided to use our expertise in developing digital sound enhancement technologies to offer a disruptive alternative that works better, does more, looks modern, and costs much less. The result is our Wear & Hear brand of Personalized Bluetooth Hearing Amplifiers.”

Dr. Alexander Goldin, CEO and Founder of Alango Technologies

The What’s Next Innovation Challenge is one of the hallmarks of the What’s Next Longevity Summit where entrepreneurs join investors, businesses, analysts, nonprofits, media and other experts all focused on the $8.3 trillion longevity economy. The three-day What’s Next Longevity Venture Summit June 24-25, and July 21 offers on demand content including: more than 70 speakers, panel discussions, analyst research presentations and innovative virtual networking opportunities.

Produced by Mary Furlong, founder and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates along with co-producers Lori Bitter, founder of The Business of Aging, and Sherri Snelling, CEO of Caregiving Club, top sponsors of the Summit include: AARP Innovation Labs, Ageless Innovation, Great Call, CareLinx, Great Call, Home Instead, Simple Meds, CABHI, Nationwide, VitalTech, Medterra CBD, CareMerge, Movano Inc. iN2L, Hamilton CapTel, Thrive, Ziegler-Linkage, WAHVE, My Family Channel and Bindix.
See the event agenda and full list of speakers and sponsors.
Register to attend the Summit here.

About Mary Furlong/Mary Furlong & Associates

Founded in 2003, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA) is a strategy, business development and marketing company. A serial entrepreneur, Mary founded SeniorNet.org, and ThirdAge Media, prior to MFA. For 17 years, Mary has produced the industry leading What’s Next Boomer Business Summit and Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit, adding the Washington Innovation Summit and What’s Next Canada in recent years. Author of Turning Silver into Gold, How to Profit in the Boomer Market and The MFA Longevity Market Report, Mary has been recognized by ASA, Fortune, Time and as one of the top 100 Women in Silicon Valley. She is an adviser to the Ziegler LinkAge Fund, CABHI and numerous start-up companies in addition to her private client practice. For more info, visit: www.maryfurlong.com

About Alango – Wear & Hear

To combat the “silent epidemic” of worldwide hearing loss, Alango Technologies, Ltd., a leading supplier of sound enhancement technologies for voice communication established in 2002, launched the Wear & Hear line in 2015. Although untreated hearing loss can lead to isolation, depression, cognitive decline, and even dementia, less than 25% of people in developed countries (and less than 3% in low income countries) use hearing aids. The Alango Wear & Hear line was created to disrupt the conventional treatment of hearing loss. Its personalizable hearing amplification solutions provide stylish, affordable, and self-tuned listening experiences to people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. For more info, visit: www.WearAndHear.com